West Ham United are very likely to be pleased about Bayern Munich’s reported desire to lure Declan Rice to Germany this summer.
As indicated in this Daily Mail feature, the Bavarian giants are said to be ready to pay a fee in the region of £100million to secure the England international, to see off the significant interest from Arsenal.
Rice will have his chance to secure a lasting legacy at West Ham when he leads out the team in the Europa Conference League final in Prague on 07 June.
The Gunners are widely considered to be the favourites to secure the services of the influential midfielder but they won’t have it all their own way, as featured in the Mail.
“However, Rice is also on the shortlist of Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel, who as reported by Sky Germany, considers the 24-year-old to be one of their top targets this summer.
“It’s also said that the Bundesliga side could be willing to pay the package demanded by West Ham.”
West Ham won’t have completely given up on retaining their captain and best player, but the direction of travel looks clear.
He understandably wants to play at the highest level, in the Champions League and to compete for trophies.
In that situation, the club has to make the most of other enquiries and the reports of Tuchel’s serious interest is exactly what they want.
Arsenal will have an idea of what the player is thinking, and a move across the capital is likely to be preferable for him compared to a switch to the Bundesliga, but this development certainly makes things interesting.
Show us the money will be the mantra from the club, to maximise the sale and achieve that figure of £100million to have the optimum chance to adequately replace the impact of Rice, with two or three new players.
Any further interest from the Premier League or elsewhere should be revealed very soon as the 24-year-old approaches a pivotal stage of his career, in Prague and beyond.
